Water-gage.



No. 665,209. Patentealan. l, lam. H. s. smsen.

WYATEIIA GAGE.

(Application led July 2, 1900.)

[NVE/Ma j f) h.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

HERMAN S. GRABER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WATER-GAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,209, dated January 1, 1901.

Application filed July 2, 1900. Serial No. 22,327. (No model.)

To all when/1f t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HERMAN S. GRABER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water- GageS/,of which the following is a speciication.

My invention relates to a Water-gage for steam-boilers and is in the'nature of an improvement on the invention forwhich I obtained Letters Patent in the United States, dated January 10, 1893, No. 489,804, for an improvement in water-gages, in which the valve of the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the water-gageoperates automatically and is connected with a rock-shaft having an arm or handle outside the valve-casing, whereby the valve is operated by hand and its position indicated at alltimes.

My invention has for its object to prevent corrosion and sticking of the valves and their operating parts, and thereby to insure a positive automatic closing of the valves in case of breakage of the gage-glass and to enable the valves to be freely moved by hand when desired.

It consists in features of novelty as hereinvafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, whereon- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the upper portion or valve-casing of my improved water-gage on line 1 1 in Fig. 3, showing the valve, with its stem, in side elevation and in the open position; Fig. 2, a similar view to Fig. 1 with the valve closed; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section through the casing on line'3 3 in Fig. 1; Figs. 4 and 5, vertical transverse sections on lines 4 4 and 5 5,

respectively, in Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a side View of the water-gage with its parts assembled and applied to the shell of a steam-boiler, the shell beingfin section, broken away. Fig. 7 is a" corresponding view to Fig. 1 of the casing to reduced scale, broken away, showing a modiication of my invention; and Fig. 8, a vertical section through the gland and stuffingbox for the gage-glass in the lower portion or casing (broken away) of the water-gage, showing part of my invention relating to the gageglass.

Like letters and numerals of reference denote like parts in all the figures.

` a a represent the upper and lower portions or valve-casings, respectively, and b the gageglass, of my improved water-gage,which is applied to .the boiler c in the usual manner.

Referring particularly to the upper portion or valve-casing and represents the valve,which in the normal operation of the water-gage is open, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, so as to allow the steam from the boiler c to pass around the valve d through the open end of the passage 1, which projects into the boiler c, and thence through the enlarged chamber 2 of the casing a into the upper part of the gage-l glass b, as in the ordinary gage.

The valve d is preferably circular, having on one side a correspondingly-shaped flat-4 faced projectiug disk 3, composed of rubber composition or other suitable packing material and adapted for closing against the valveseat d, which surrounds the opening of the passage 1.

'I o thevalve d is fixed a stem 4, which eX- tends longitudinally through the passage 1 and enlarged chamber 2 of the casing a and is supported at its free end opposite to the valve d in a guide or cylindrical recess 5, formed, preferably, in the screw-plug 6,which closes an opening 6 through the front wall of the casing 0 as shown. f

The stem 4 is preferably spiral-shaped circumferentially for a suitable portion of its length within the passage 1 of therasing a, as shown, so that on opening the usual blowout cock or on the breakage of the gage-glass b the valve d, with its stem 4, will be rotated by the sudden rush of steam (or water) from the boiler c during the consequent closing of the valve d onto its seat d', and thereby remove any deposit of scale or sedimentand prevent corrosion and sticking of the parts.

On the stem 4, preferably on that part within the enlarged chamber 2 of the casing a, are formed circumferentially two opposite collars or shoulders 7, between which the valve d, with its stem 4, is engaged by a forked tappet, hereinafter more particularly referredto.

Below the stem 4 of the valve d is mounted.

IOO

end in a stu fung-boxf, containing a speciallyarranged packing device, as hereinafter described, which is held in the stufn'ngboxf by the gland f', through which the rock-shaft e projects beyond the outside of the casing a.

The rock-shaft e within the casing a is formed with a square-shaped portion 9, which lits in a correspondingly-shaped hole formed through the hub of a forked tappet g, the fork of which straddles and engages the stem 4 of the valve d between its collars or shoulders 7, as before mentioned, the said fork closely hugging the collars or shoulders 7, so that. on a partial rotation of the rock-shaft e and consequent vibration of the tappet g in one direction the stem 4 of the valve (l will be moved longitudinally, so as to open the valve d from its seat d and admit steam from the boiler c into the passage 1, as shown in Figs.. 1 and 6, and when moved in the opposite direction so as to close the valve d onto its seat d and shut od the steam from the passage 1 and casing c.

On the rock-shaft e, outside the casing a, is fixed an arm or handle 72 by which the rockshaft e is operated by hand and which when the valve cl is open, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, is preferably arranged in the vertical position, and when the valve d is closed on its seat d', as seen in Fig. 2, the arm h will assume an inclined position, as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 6.

On the rock-shaft e is fixed con jointly with or in proximity to the handle 71, a second arm z', which is arranged at a suitable angle to the arm 72 and from the arm z' extends a cord 10, by which the arm z' can be pulled downward and the rock-shaft e operated by hand at any desired distance from the water-gage.

For preventing the corrosion and sticking of the rock-shaft e and so enabling it to be freely turned at all times with the least amount of friction the rock-shaft c where it passes through the stufng-boxfand glandf is formed at the inside of the casing a with a circular collar 11, which bears against the exposed face of a circular ring 12, composed of rubber composition or other suitable material and located within the stuffing-boxf. The rook-shaft e passes through but is out of contact circumferentially with the ring 12, the gland f, which. surrounds but is out of contact with the rock-shaft e thereat, being screwed (or otherwise adjusted) into the stuffing-boxf, so as to securely hold the disk 12 in place against the inner shoulder 13 of the stu liing-boxf, the shoulder 13 surrounding but being clear ot' the periphery of the collar 11, which bears against the ring 12 thereat, as before named.

In the end of the rock-shaft e, having its bearing in the recess 8 of the casing a, is formed a socket 14, within which is fixed one end of a spiral spring 15, the other end of the spring 15 bearing against the closed end of the recess S, whereby owing to the resilience of the spring 15 the rock-shaft e is normally constrained en dwise, so as to maintain a positive and constant pressure of the collar 11 againstthe ring 12. By this arrangement the rock-shaft e being out of contact circumferentially with the ring 12 and its collar 11 being in steam-tight contact with the exposed face of the ring 12, steam or iiuidis prevented from passing from the steam chamber or casing a through the ring 12 into the stuffingbox f, whereby the rock-shaft or spindle e can be easily turned, and the corrosion and sticking thereof owing to the escape of steam into the stuffing-box in the ordinary arrangement of packing are obviated.

The end or bearing portion of the rockshaft e within the recess 8 is ot' a flattened circular form circumferentially, forming spaces 16 between the rock-shaft e and the surrounding wall of the recess 8, so as to allow the free circulation of the steam (or water) therethrough to and from the recess 8 beyond the end of the rock-shaft e. By this arrangement the scale or sediment is prevented from entering the stufng-boxf, and the friction of the parts being reduced to a minimum the movement of the rock-shaft c is readily effected either automatically by the valve CZ or by the arm or handle h, as the case may be. By this arrangement also on removing the glandf from the stuffing-box fthe rock-shaft e, with the ring 12, can be withdrawn from the casing a and tappet g for renewing the ring 12 or for cleaning purposes without the use of a removable screw-plug in the opposite side wall of the casing a.

In the operation of my improved watergage corrosion of the parts and deposit of sediment are prevented by the automatic rotation of the valve d when blowing out, and this feature, combined with the practically frictionless and easy movement of the rockshaft e and other parts connecting with the valve d, insures a positive automatic closing of the valve d onto its seat d in case of breakage of the gage-glass b, the position of the valve CZ in such case being at once indicated by the arms h and i. Moreover, by the automatic cleaning and sensitiveness of the device the ei'iiciency and reliability of the water-gage for indicating the true level of the water in the boiler are increased.

The lower portion or valve-Casin g a of the water-gage is identical in every respect to the upper portion or casing ct above described, excepting that the lower portion a is provided on its under side with the dischargepipe 17, (shown broken awayin Fig. 6,) which may be directed to any convenient part of the boiler-house and is provided with a blowout cock or valve k,which may be located and operated where required.

For preventing the breakage of the gageglass b, which frequently occurs when inserting it into the stufiiug-box 18 in the lower portion or casing a', owing to the unevenness of the lower edge of the gage-glass b bearing directly on the bottom shoulder 1 9 of the stuff- IIO contact with and grinding on the shoulder 19 and its breakage avoided.

In the modication of my invention, as'

shown in Fig. 7, a hinged swing-valve lis used in lieu of the valve d, with its stem 4, as above described, in which case the forked tappet g is connected with the valvel by a pin 23,which connects` the two arms of the tappet g, fixed on the rock-shaft e, and engages in a yoke or stem 24, formed on the under side of the valve Z, whereby the valve Z is automatically closed onto its seat Z and opened by the arm h on the rock-shaft @outside the casing d in a similar manner to the valve d before described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a water-gage for a steam-boiler, the combination of a valve, opening from the valve-casing into the boiler, and having its stem adapted to be engaged within the said casing by a tappet held on a rock-shaft, the said shaft projecting at one end through a stuffing-box, and having a collar within the said casing bearing against the exposed face of a packing disk or ring contained in the stung-box, a spring bearing against the 0pposite end of the rock-shaft, and an arm iXed on the said shaft outside the casing, substantially as described.

2. In a watergage for a steam-boiler, the combination of a valve, opening from the valve-casing into the boiler, and having its stem adapted to be engaged within the said casing by a tappet held on a rock-shaft, the said shaft projecting at one end through a stufiing-box, and having a collar within the casing bearing against the exposed face of a packing disk or ring con tained in the stuflngbox, a spring bearing against the opposite end 'of the rock-shaft, and an arm fixed on the Said shaft outside the casing, the said valve-stem having a spiral circumferential portion, substantially as described.

3. A rock-shaft or spindle mounted within a steam chamber or casing and `projecting through a stuflng-box and gland, and through a ring held within the stuffing-box by the gland, the said shaft being out of contact circumferentially with the ring and having a collar adapted to bear steam-tight against the exposed face of the said ring within the casing, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

HERMAN S. GRABER. Witnesses:

G. L. BELFRY, EDWARD W. FURRELL. 

